CANADIAN NOVELS FOR SOCIAL SCIENTISTS AND HISTORIANS

Most discussions about the impact of Afghanistan on the future of NATO focus on transatlantic relations between the United States and the European Union. But for Canada, which is one of the few NATO allies that voluntarily deployed into the south, facing heavy resistance and fighting from Taliban insurgents, the Afghanistan operations have become the most salient dimension of its continued involvement in the Atlantic Alliance. While this may seem surprising, given the cutbacks in Canadian defense spending in the 1990s and the withdrawal of Canada's standing forces from Germany, it should not. For during that so-called dark decade, Canada continued to make major contributions to NATO and European security. This essay argues that Ottawa's multi-faceted military and political support of the “new” NATO of the post–Cold War era continued when the alliance undertook its involvement in Afghanistan. Indeed, in its efforts in support of NATO's mission in Afghanistan, Canada has demonstrated a dedication to the alliance that seems stronger than NATO's collective commitment to itself.     

IDEOLOGY AND URBAN LANDSCAPES: CONCEPTIONS OF THE MARKET IN PORTLAND,MAINE*

This paper concerns the role of ideology in the operation of urban land and housing markets. We argue that existing work in this area tends to be overly abstract and to reify ideology. To correct this, we advocate examining understandings of particular land and housing markets. We focus on Portland, Maine, and analyze discourses on the uneven costs of social development, inner-city redevelopment, a recent decline in the regional economy and Portland's place in that economy. Traditional pro-market interpretations dominate, but we also identify more politicized understandings - many of which are also pro-market. They are applied very selectively, for example to explain a crisis but not a boom. We conclude that politicized conceptions of market operations are not necessarily radical and may in fact be crucial to the survival of capitalism.     

PERCEIVING COMMUNITIES: EXCHANGE, LANDSCAPES AND SOCIAL NETWORKS IN THE LATER IRON AGE OF WESTERN BRITAIN

Summary.   In recent years British Iron Age studies have focused on regionality whilst critiquing the hierarchical model of Iron Age society. Despite the success of these approaches there has been little detailed replacement of previous social models with an understanding of how Iron Age societies worked. Looking at the later Iron Age of western Britain this paper combines examination of the exchange of material culture alongside study of the landscape to explore the nature of Iron Age communities. It is argued that Iron Age societies in the region used material culture to construct and maintain social relationships, while using visual landscape references allowed groups to engage in larger perceived communities.     

DEATHSCAPE: MALCOLM LOWRY'S TOPOPHOBIC VIEW OF THE CITY

Intellectuals tend toward a negative view of the modern city, whereas literary works express more ambivalent feelings. The novelist Malcolm Lowry's vision of the North American city, however, is purely topophobic, and six levels of topophobia are evident. In ascending order of disquietude, cities are regarded as placeless, as sources of sensory overload, as fundamentally inorganic (the aesthetico-sensory dimension) and as symbols of evil, as predators, and ultimately as the agents of civilization, the creator of deathscapes (the symbolic dimension ).
Les intellectuels ont tendance à avoir une vision négative de la ville dans le monde moderne, tandis que les oeuvres littéraires démontrent des sentiments plus ambivalents. La vision des villes nord-américaines qu'entretient le romancier Malcolm Lowry est purement 'topophobique,' avec six niveaux de 'topophobie.' Par ordre ascendant de malaises, les villes resortent comme dépourvues de lieux, comme étant des sources de surcharge sensorielle, comme fondamentalement inorganiques (la dimension esthético-sensorielle), et comme étant des symboles de malheur, comme prédatrices, et finalement, comme agents de la civilisation créatrice de paysages de mort (la dimension symbolique).     

INHABITING NEW LANDSCAPES: SETTLEMENT AND MOBILITY IN BRITAIN AFTER THE LAST GLACIAL MAXIMUM

Summary.   This paper explores the debate over the reoccupation of northern Europe after the last glacial maximum. Previous contributions to this debate have focused more on the timing of this event, rather than the technological and mobility strategies that enabled people to move into new landscapes. It is argued that a more detailed examination of the archaeological evidence from specific sites can provide a more nuanced understanding of these issues and can highlight the variety of technical economies employed in the late glacial. These concerns are explored through a case study from the Vale of Pickering in northern England.     

METROPOLITAN DOMINANCE AND FOREIGN OWNERSHIP IN THE CANADIAN URBAN SYSTEM

This paper examines the concept of metropolitan dominance as measured by the concentration of corporate activity in large urban centres in the Canadian urban system. Specifically, it explores the extent of corporate concentration in various sectors of the economy; isolates those urban centres in which that concentration occurs; and identifies the extent and location of international penetration of the Canadian economy.
Dans cette étude, nous examinons le concept de l'importance des métropoles en fonction de la concentration des diverses entreprises dans le systeme urbain du Canada. Plus spécifiquement, nous examinons le degré de cette concentration dans divers secteurs économiques; nous isolons les centres urbain ou a lieu cette concentration; nous identifions l'étendue et les points de pénetration internationale dans l'économie du Canada.     

墨西哥银元在中国的流通

墨西哥银元 ,俗称鹰洋。是世界金融史上颇具传奇色彩的货币。十九世纪中叶开始 ,这种外国货币逐渐成为我国华东、华南地区使用最广、最受欢迎、最有势力、流通量最大的银币 ,风行数十年不衰。对我国货币制度影响深远。虽然鹰洋在中国货币史上有重要地位 ,有关的专门研究还是空白。本文全面研究墨西哥银元在中国流通问题 ,其中不足之处 ,希方家指正。一鹰洋是著名的西班牙“PESO” (比索 )的继承者。十六世纪四十年代 ,西班牙殖民者先后在秘鲁 (今玻利维亚 )的波托西和墨西哥的萨卡特拉斯等地发现大银矿 ,此后三、四百年 ,巨额美洲白银源源…